Manassas Journal Messenger 02-22-01
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Thursday, February 22, 2001 |
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Truthfulness, compassion, tolerance: Falun Gong’s peaceful principles grow in popularity By Lucy Chumbley Staff Writer
Amy Drewry/Staff Photographer Lisa Fan practices the movements of Falun Gong – a Chinese mind-body philosophy – in her Alexandria home on Monday. Falun Gong practitioners use this peaceful sequence to align themselves with the universal principals of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance.
MANASSAS – A chance encounter on the Metro made Lisa Fan’s world blossom like a lotus flower. Fan has been a practitioner of Falun Gong – a Chinese mind/body practice based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance – for almost four years now. But back in May 1997 she had never heard of it. One evening that May she left work as usual – she’s a computer network engineer for the Department of Health in Washington, D.C. – and got on the Metro for her daily commute. She sat down next to a woman reading a book in Chinese.[more] |
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Report: Growth slowed in 2000 By Chris Newman Staff Writer MANASSAS – Sales growth in Old Town cooled during the fourth quarter of 2000, slowing from a third-quarter rate of 12 percent to a year-end total rate of 8.8 percent, according to sales tax data reported to the Old Town Business Association Wednesday morning. Based on sales tax receipts, fourth-quarter sales for the 32 Old Town businesses that the city tracks were up a meager 1.5 percent last year for the same period in 1999.[more] |
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State budget deadlock drags on By Alfred M. Biddlecomb Staff Writer RICHMOND – The budget watch continued Wednesday night as senior members of the House of Delegates and Senate got together to discuss their differences one day after the deadline to hammer out a final budget bill had passed. A stand off between both houses of the General Assembly on whether to continue phasing out the car tax remains the sticking point with neither side budging as the closing day of the 46-day session looms closer. The House budget includes a planned 70 percent reduction in the car tax while the Senate version only advances the discount to 50 percent.[more] |
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‘Saint’ asked to leave hospital — After 17 years and little explanation, volunteer is told not to return By Bennie Scarton Jr. Staff Writer MANASSAS – For 17 years Catherine Ehrmantraut was the epitome of a volunteer at Prince William Hospital. Over the years she had accumulated more than 20,000 volunteer hours in the hospital’s Emergency Services Department, saving the hospital thousands of dollars. She was loved and appreciated by physicians, nurses, administration and patients. Michael J. Schwartz, president and CEO of the hospital, called her a “Saint” and said she could never be thanked enough for her many acts of kindness and altruism. However, Ehrmantraut’s service as a volunteer came to a screeching halt on Jan. 15.[more] |
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Celebration of culture — Dancers and musicians share African heritage By Tiffany Schwab Staff Writer
Amy Drewry/Staff Photographer Language Arts teacher Charita Blackman, left, dances with Yolanda Smith, of the African Heritage Dancers and Drummers of Washington D.C., during a demonstration for Black History Month at Parkside Middle School in Manassas Park on Wednesday. MANASSAS – A celebration of Black History Month turned into a moving experience for about two dozen students and six teachers Wednesday at Parkside Middle School. The staff and students hopped, shook their hips and tapped their toes to the beat, imitating the moves of the African Heritage Dancers and Drummers, which performed at two separate assemblies at the school.[more] |
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High bids come back on the Connor House By Chris Newman Staff Writer MANASSAS PARK – Contractors’ estimates for a scaffolding system that would halt the deterioration of the 180-year-old Conner House came back higher than expected this month, so city officials say they may forgo the temporary measure and just begin repairs to the stone house. A structural engineer will examine the house Friday to offer an assessment of its deterioration and to recommend what could be done to shore up its shifting walls in the short term. City Manager David Reynal said the $25,000 budgeted for the scaffolding would be better spent toward repairs that would move the building closer to its final use than on a project whose lowest bid came back as $86,000.[more] |
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‘Lice, buses concern some Manassas Park parents By Tiffany Schwab Staff Writer MANASSAS PARK – Public comments made up the bulk of the school board meeting Wednesday night. Two parents addressed concerns about lice in their children’s school. Another spoke of overcrowded school buses and inequity between students who had to walk to Manassas Park Elementary School and those who now can ride the bus to the new Cougar Elementary School, even if they live within a block. Theresa Smoot said she has learned that the elementary school had 18 reported cases of lice in 21 days in January. That did not include her daughter, she said, and possibly countless other children.[more] |
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Board approves single-family homes off Glenkirk Road By Caryn Goebel Staff Writer BRENTSVILLE – More than 500 single-family homes will be constructed off Glenkirk Road, despite concerns from one county supervisor who feels the area is being “obliterated by houses.” Supervisor Ruth T. Griggs, R-Occoquan, was the only dissenting vote Tuesday when the Prince William Board of County Supervisors decided to allow a developer to build Glenkirk Estates, a community of 575 detached homes one mile southwest of Linton Hall Road.[more] |
| Sports |
| News and Notes — Luck of draw goes
No. 4 seed Eagles’ way Youwouldn’t normally associate luck with a fourth-seeded team in an eight-team tournament. Fourth seeds always play their mostly closely matched opponent in the first round, and even if the fourth seed survives that, they usually face the top-seed in the second round. But for Osbourn’s boys basketball team – the fourth seed in the Cardinal District tournament – they feel fortunate. In the early stages of this year’s Cardinal tourney, luck has been on the Eagles’ side. When Osbourn lost to Osbourn Park last Friday, and Hylton was dropped by Potomac, the regular season ended with the Eagles, Yellow Jackets and Bulldogs sharing 5-9 district records. A three-way tie emerged for the coveted fourth seed, the last seed to host the opening round of the district tournament. All three teams split with each other. And all tie-breakers were awash. Luck was the only factor that determined where these teams played Tuesday night. [more] |
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